Thank you, Sen. Mark Udall, for standing up to the power base of both parties and for questioning the government’s unconscionable assault on our civil liberties. Better late than never. It is unfortunate, however, that it took the actions of a low-level NSA contractor to bring this situation to the forefront.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein and others cavalierly assert that the NSA’s surveillance of law-abiding citizens is “lawful.” Seriously? Of course it is. All you need to do is enact legislation approving tyranny and, as if by definition, tyranny becomes lawful. Add to that a “secret interpretation” of the law. Lawful? How are citizens supposed to abide by the law when it is subject to secret interpretation? It doesn’t get much more arbitrary than that.

We may have less to fear from the terrorists than the overreaching zealots who would suspend the Bill of Rights. I understand the motivations of the former; I am less sanguine about the motivations of the latter.

Richard Mignogna, Golden

This letter was published in the June 20 edition.

At a congressional hearing on March 12, Sen. Ron Wyden asked Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?”

Clapper’s response? “No sir.”

Thanks to the courageous actions of Edward Snowden, we now know Clapper lied.

If President Obama truly “welcomes a debate” on the NSA secret spy program on American citizens, he now has the opportunity to demonstrate his good faith by firing Clapper.

Christopher Dugan, Denver

This letter was published in the June 20 edition.

What should we do with Edward Snowden and his leaky likes? Punish or reward them? Perhaps it should depend on whether they can prove their allegation that the government has broken the law. Convince the jury (or the commission, or whatever) and you’ll be honored as a whistleblower; fail to do so and you go to jail as a thief.

Brad Bohland, Denver

This letter was published in the June 20 edition.

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